An observational study in Rasmussen Encephalitis, sponsored by Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Marseille. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in France. Open to participants aged 2 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-28.
Sponsored by Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Marseille · Observational
Since the initial study of cases reported between 2009 and 2015, adalimumab has become in France the immunomodulatory reference treatment used after failure of corticosteroids and immunoglobulins before a possible recourse to the hemispherotomy. This observational study is intended to document the long-term efficacy and safety of Adalimumab therapy in patients with Rasmussen encephalitis.
Rasmussen Encephalitis (ER) is a particularly severe chronic inflammatory brain disorder resulting in the progressive destruction of a hemisphere. It is a rare disease although at present no precise prevalence is available. It begins preferentially in children.
This inflammatory process is accompanied by a progressive loss of function of the affected hemisphere, associated with a pharmaco-resistant partial epilepsy. The diagnosis is based on a bundle of clinical, radiological and electroencephalographic arguments. CSF analysis directs diagnosis in 50% of cases.
No anti-epileptic treatment can stop seizures. Only hemispherotomy (surgical disconnection of a cerebral hemisphere) allows it but it is associated with definitive motor and cognitive deficits.
Over the last 20 years, new therapeutic trials have focused on immuno-modulatory treatments targeted at the T-lymphocyte pathway, including tacrolimus. Although they seem to be more effective than immunoglobulins or corticosteroids, it remains transient. In addition, the number of published cases is low. In this context, starting in 2009, it has been proposed to use adalimumab (Ab anti TNF) based on:
Thus, in the continuation of the work carried out previously (French study on the cases between 2009 and 2015), the aim of this research projet is to complete the follow-up of the patients who previously took part in in the first study and to establish the follow-up of the patients treated by adalimumab since then.
125 studies on the registry are indexed under Encephalitis; 33 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 300 across 54 observational studies indexed under Encephalitis.
Browse Encephalitis studies →Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Marseille is the lead sponsor of 702 studies on the registry; 139 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The implementation of a treatment with adalimumab in a patient with an ER requires the performance of a CPR within a reference center Epilepsies Rares if one complies with the rules of good clinical practice. Thus, all ER patients treated with adalimumab are referenced in a referral center. There are 7 reference centers in France, they are all partners of the study.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Retrospective observational study initially and then prospective with inclusion of all the patients carrying an ER treated by Adalimumab in France. Follow-up will continue for one year if adalimumab is discontinued.
Efficiency of the treatment measured by the reduction of the number of epileptic seizures
The change of epileptic seizures (Will be considered as a responder patient any patient with a 50% decrease in the number of seizures between the time of inclusion and 6 months after the start of treatment). This response to treatment is re-evaluated at 12 months then every 6 months for 5 years.
Time frame: 5 years
Efficiency of the treatment measured by the stability if the cognitive assessment
Stability of the cognitive assessment: variation of less than 10 points on each of the different composite indices (QIT, ICV, IRF, IMT, IVT) of age-appropriate Weschler scales, between two cognitive assessments of 6 months.
Time frame: 6 months
Started Apr 2020 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2027, 92 months after the start.
Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Oct 28, 2026: primary completion Apr 2024 → Dec 2027 and completion Oct 2025 → Dec 2027.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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